Cider Week New York City

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - On the first day of the sixth annual Cider Week New York City, Blackduck Cidery co-owner John Reynolds sat with his business partner and wife Shannon and their daughters in Jimmy's No. 43 in the East Village while drinking beer.

While Blackduck started selling cider only three years ago, Reynolds and his wife planted their orchard with the intention of making cider from its apples 20 years ago.

Cider emerged as its own mainstream category in just the last decade. Reynolds says New York State -- especially the Finger Lakes region from where he hails -- played a large role in that emergence.

75 licensed cideries grow their apples, ferment their cider and distribute their product in New York, more than any other state.

New York Cider Association executive director Jenn Smith just sampled a Blackduck cider created just for Friday's event. She credits Gov. Andrew Cuomo for much of cider's recent success in this state by abandoning a series of archaic laws and streamlining the process for a craft beverage maker to receive a license in New York.

On a national level, Smith pointed to the farm-to-table movement as a catalyst for consumer interest in cider. She hopes cider-makers can cultivate that interest and grow.